The work of Steven Kerr and
John Jermier looked at those situations in which leadership is not needed...

...situations in which leader
behaviors are neutralized by the characteristics of the subordinate, task or organization.

"substitutes for leadership" --
"...certain situational determinants" that have
the potential for "...rendering the leader incapable of
influencing subordinate satisfaction very much for either better or worse" (Kerr, 1973).

What happens as patients, seriously ill,
arrive at the emergency room of urban hospitals? As the ER personnel spring into
action, who is in charge? Similarly, what about the situation of a team of air traffic
controllers bringing a jet into an airport during an air traffic crisis; where is the
leader?

Whereas each
member of the emergency room staff appears to have specific tasks to do, they generally
accomplish these without any apparent supervision. In terms of leadership, what is
happening here?

The work of Steven Kerr and
John Jermier looked at those situations in which leadership is not needed. They examined
situations where existing leadership models could not account for what was observed; work
situations where it is difficult to tell who is really in charge.

The literature is replete with
references tonumerous contingency models; Fiedler's Contingency
Theory, Yukl's Multiple Linkage Model, House's Path- Goal Theory, Vroom-Yetton Model of
decision making, and Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory. All these
models assume that some type of hierarchical leadership is needed and important in formal
organizations. Ineffective leadership was assumed to be the result of leader behaviors
which were inappropriate to the situation.

Kerr and Jermier questioned
these assumptions and suggested an alternative -- that certain aspects of the individual,
the task or the organization reduced the importance of formal leadership by
"neutralizing" the effects of leader behaviors. Further, other situational
variables not only "neutralize" leader behaviors, but also
"substitute" for them. These leadership substitutes have a direct impact on the
subordinate.

By focusing attention on nonleader sources
of influence, the leadership substitute model recognized that many factors in the worker's
environment could provide the guidance needed on the job.

.

Characteristics Of Subordinates

Several
characteristics of subordinates may neutralize a leader's behaviors.

Several characteristics of subordinates may neutralize a leader's
behaviors. These characteristics include the subordinates' abilities and experiences,
their needs for independence, their professional orientation and their indifference
towards organizational rewards.

.

Competence

Highly
competent subordinates may not need nor want to be told what to do.

Highly competent subordinates may not need nor want to be told what
to do. Because of their abilities, experiences, training, or job knowledge, subordinates
very often have the competence to act independently, without immediate supervision, as
they perform their day-to-day duties. In effect, they know what needs to be done and how
to do it. Leadership by some "superior" would be redundant.

.

Need For
Independence

...work
teams... assign specific tasks... monitor and control performance... have considerable
autonomy over work scheduling...

leadership comes not from a "leader", but rather,
from the team itself.

The workplace of the new millennium will be a workplace of greater
worker autonomy; employees are demanding it. Subordinates want more control over how work
is performed and how their workday is structured. In many firms, work teams which assign
specific tasks to their members, monitor and control performance and generally have
considerable autonomy over work scheduling, have become the norm. Thus, leadership comes
not from a "leader", but rather, from the team itself.

Accountants, engineers, doctors, or software developers may show
greater allegiance to their disciplines or their professional associations than to their
employing organizations. Often, they have greater concern for the peer review process than
hierarchical, organizational evaluation. Such employees may develop important referents,
external to the employing organization. As these employees place their discipline above
the best interests of the organization, organizational leadership may become irrelevant.

.

Indifference
Towards Rewards

.

As is described by the Expectancy Theory of Motivation, motivation
is linked with perception. The degree to which a specific reward will motivate an
individual will depend upon whether:

1. The compensation is important to
the person.

2. Additional compensation depends
upon performance.

3. The employee is sure that more
effort will result in higher performance.

Organizational leadership, if unable
to provide rewards as stipulated by this theory, will fail to incite subordinates to
follow.

.

Characteristics Of Tasks

Where
is the need for leadership if the job is so intrinsically satisfying that subordinates
will take it up voluntarily?

Generally, leadership is defined as an ability to get followers to
engage in activities beneficial to the organization. However, where is the need for
leadership if the job is so intrinsically satisfying that subordinates will take it up
voluntarily, or if it is so routine as to make any leadership superfluous?

.

Routineness

...if
a job is routine and simple, the subordinate may not either need nor want directions.

For routine tasks, unnecessary and redundant leader directions will
have an impact upon subordinate satisfaction, morale, motivation, performance and
acceptance of the leader. In effect, if a job is routine and simple, the subordinate may
not either need nor want directions.

.

Feedback
and Intrinsic Satisfaction

...performance
feedback from the work itself is another characteristic of the task which acts as a leader
substitute.

Motivational research indicates that employees desire a leader's
support and feedback for ambiguous tasks. However, for clearly defined assignments they
may not need nor want support or feedback from a leader. Often, performance feedback from
the work itself is another characteristic of the task which acts as a leader substitute.

Extrinsic rewards are extraneous to the tasks,
bestowed by someone else -- promotions, pay raises, awards, titles or even compliments.
Intrinsic rewards, on the other hand, come directly from performing a task. Intrinsic
rewards are a form of internal reinforcement such as feelings of accomplishment and
self-worth, or having a sense of achievement. When a job is challenging and intrinsically
satisfying, the employee may not need feedback or rewards from a leader.

.

Characteristics Of Organization

.

The formalization of norms and rules, group
cohesion, inflexible or rigid reward structures may serve as organizational substitutes
for leadership.

A highly structured organization with explicit
norms, rules, policies, procedures, plans, goals and areas of responsibility may be
defined as being highly formalized.

Clear job descriptions or specific task objectives can substitute
for leadership. In effect, the specificity of the objectives and job descriptions leaves
no room for misunderstanding the organization's expectations of the subordinates.

.

Group Cohesion

...adherence
to team norms will very often outweigh any leadership dictates.

In cohesive groups, the team members' desires
to stay in the team outweigh their desires to leave. The team serves as an important
source for satisfying the individual members' social needs. Further, the desire to
maintain those social relations, and not alienate the other team members causes team
members to adhere rigidly to team norms. This adherence to team norms will very often
outweigh any leadership dictates.

.

Organizational Inflexibility

.

An organization that is either incapable of,
or resistant to, being changed may be said to be inflexible. This may be a result of very
rigid organizational control structures, clear lines of authority, or unbending rules and
procedures. In such an organization, employees are expected to adhere to clearly defined
policies. Further, given strict adherence to organizational policies, leaders are given
virtually no discretion over the enforcement of the rules. If the employees are aware of
this lack of supervisory discretion, then they are likely to disregard supervisory
leadership.

.

Rigid
Reward Structure

.

In order for rewards to be effective, employees must place a high
value on the rewards -- pay raises, promotions and high visibility work assignments --
under the leader's control. If a supervisor is able to exercise control over pay raises,
can make recommendations regarding promotions and has considerable discretion in task
assignments, he or she has a high level of reward power. However, if the rewards are not
within the supervisor's control, he or she will have little or no influence. This lack of
control then diminishes the effectiveness of the leader.

.

Summary

.

Current theories and models of leadership have placed considerable
emphasis on hierarchical leadership that, in order to be effective, takes situational
variables into account.

There
are many instances where "substitutes for leadership" exist. In these instances,
the subordinate's dependency on the leader is reduced. Rigid bureaucratic rules and
regulations, can reduce subordinates' information needs about the task to almost zero. In
other instances the task may be totally specified by technology, or "professional
standards" and the prescribed methodology may render the leader superfluous.

The substitute concept identifies
situations in which the leader's behaviors are neutralized by characteristics of the
subordinate, the task and/or the organization.